Respect man, love man.
Respect his individuality, respect his differences. And that is possible only if you respect your individuality.
That is possible only if you are grounded in your own being and you are unafraid.
I would like a world utterly fearless, where all labels can be removed.
Once it happened:
I entered an air-conditioned train compartment in Bombay. The only passenger in my cabin immediately fell on the floor and touched my feet — -a traditional Hindu SASHTANG when your whole body touches the floor. I told him, "Wait, wait! I am not a Hindu!
But he had already touched my feet. He was shaken; he said, "Then who are you?"
I told him, "Can't you see my beard? I am a Mohammedan! "
He said, "My God! And I have touched your feet! Why didn't you say so before?"
I said, "But you didn't give me any time. The moment I entered you jumped in such a hurry. Excuse me, but I am a Mohammedan. You can go to the Ganges and take a dip and you will be purified."
But now the thing was that we had to live in the same compartment for twenty-four hours. And he was very much worried about what he had done — such a sin, never heard of before. And he said, "Do you know? I am the highest brahmin caste, and I thought that you were a mahatma."
I said, "Just a little difference between a mahatma and a Mohammed. My name is Mohammed."
But he would look at me again and again — pretending to read his newspaper but he would look again and again. He was making sure — I didn't look like a Mohammedan. Finally he said, "You are joking! You don't look like a Mohammedan."
I said, "So you have got it!"
He jumped again, touched my feet, and said, "I was watching you — you don't look like a Mohammedan. The very vibe is that of the purest saint."
I said, "If it satisfies you, perfectly good, but if you ask MY opinion, now you will have to take two dips! In fact, I AM a Mohammedan! I was just trying to help you, to console you; I was not hoping that you would touch my feet again."
The man was angry. He called the conductor immediately and he said, "Change my compartment! I cannot sleep in this compartment — twenty-four hours with this man will be a torture, a hell. I don't know what kind of man he is. Sometimes he says he is Hindu, sometimes he says he is Mohammedan."
I told him, "The fact is, I am simply crazy"
He said, "That's right! So you are not Mohammedan? It is better to be crazy than to be a Mohammedan. Just crazy but Hindu?"
I said, "Of course! I am a Hindu of the highest brahmin caste, but a little crazy. Once in a while this idea comes to me that I am Mohammed — but I am not! "
A third time he touched my feet!
People live by labels…. Drop all labels from your being and drop labels from others' beings. Look at people as they are, don't bring labels. Then we will have a better humanity, a more human humanity.
OSHO
